The Imam's four khutbahs (sermons) of Hajj

خطب الحج الأربع

Khutab al-Hajj al-Arba'

Conditions & RulingsMark done

Overview

These are the recommended sermons the leader of the Hajj delivers at set points — around the 7th of Dhul-Hijjah, at 'Arafah on the 9th, and during the days of Tashreeq — to teach pilgrims the rites. They are sunnah, and the schools differ on their exact count.

Qur'an

No ayah of the Qur'an is cited for this act — the evidence for it is from the Sunnah. See the Hadith below.

Hadith

•Arafah khutbah (9th) — the long hadith of Jabir (RA) b. Abdullah describing the Prophet's (ﷺ) Hajj: on reaching Arafah he had his camel brought, and at the bottom of the valley (Uranah, near Masjid Namirah) 'he addressed the people' (khataba an-nas) after zawal; Bilal (RA) then gave the adhan and iqamah and the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed Zuhr, then Asr, combined and shortened.Reference · Sahih Muslim 1218aGrade · Sahih (in Sahih Muslim; the long Jabir (RA) Hajj hadith, Muslim 1218a).
•Yawm al-Nahr Mina khutbahs (10th) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Hajj, chapter 'Al-Khutba during the Days of Mina' (باب الخطبة أيام منى), hadiths 1739, 1741, 1742: the Prophet (ﷺ) addressed the people on the Day of Nahr at Mina ('O people, what day is this?... your blood, your property and your honor are sacred to one another...').Reference · Sahih al-Bukhari 1739/1741/1742Grade · Sahih (in Sahih al-Bukhari 1739/1741/1742, the Day of Nahr khutbah at Mina).
•middle of Tashreeq khutbah — Sunan Abi Dawud, from Sarra' bint Nabhan (RA) and from Ibn Abi Najih: the Prophet (ﷺ) delivered an address at Mina and asked 'Is this not the middle of the days of Tashreeq?'Reference · Sunan Abi Dawud 1953Grade · Da'if — al-Albani graded the Sarra' bint Nabhan (RA) narration (Abu Dawud 1953) weak, and Ibn al-Qattan said it is not authentically established; but a Mina khutbah on the days of Tashreeq is itself sound via the Day-of-Nahr reports, so only this 'middle of Tashreeq' wording is the weak link.
•The 7th-day (Makkah) khutbah rests on the instructional need to teach pilgrims the rites ahead rather than an explicit marfu' hadith, which is why the Hanbali mainstream does not count it.Grade · No specific marfu' hadith — the 7th-day (Makkah) khutbah rests on the instructional need to teach the rites, which is why the Hanbali mainstream does not count it.

Applies to

Applies to all Hajj types equally (tamattu', qiran, ifrad) — these are the imam's public sermons for the whole body of pilgrims and are not tied to any particular Hajj type; there is no count difference between the types. This is informational/context describing the imam's role, not a personal act performed differently by each pilgrim.

If missed

No penalty. These are the imam's sunnah sermons, not a personal rite of the individual pilgrim; omitting them does not invalidate anyone's Hajj and requires no dam or fidyah. This entry is informational/context describing what the imam delivers, not an act the pilgrim can 'miss'.

Timing & place

There is no single time window; each of the four is time-bound to its day: (1) 7th Dhul-Hijjah — after the Zuhr prayer, in Makkah; (2) 9th Dhul-Hijjah (Arafah) — after zawal (the sun's decline) and before the combined/shortened Zuhr+Asr prayer (this one is uniquely before the prayer); (3) 10th Dhul-Hijjah (Yawm al-Nahr) — at Mina, after the Zuhr prayer; (4) 12th Dhul-Hijjah (Yawm al-Nafr al-Awwal, the second day of Tashreeq) — at Mina, after the Zuhr prayer.

Spread across the Hajj sites: 7th khutbah — Masjid al-Haram, Makkah; 9th khutbah — Arafah, in the valley of Uranah near Masjid Namirah; 10th and 12th khutbahs — Mina (the Prophet's (ﷺ) Mina addresses are associated with the area of Masjid al-Khayf).

Common mistakes

•Believing there is only one Hajj sermon (the Arafah khutbah) and being unaware of the 7th-day (Makkah), Yawm al-Nahr (Mina) and Tashreeq-day sermons.
•Assuming the Arafah khutbah comes after the prayer like the Friday khutbah — it is delivered before the combined Zuhr+Asr.
•Treating these as two-part sermons with a sitting between like Jumu'ah — most are single sermons.
•Thinking they are obligations on the individual pilgrim rather than recommended acts of the imam.

Across the madhabs

The four madhabs agree these khutbahs are sunnah but diverge on how many and on which days: (1) Shafi'i = four khutbahs: 7th of Dhul-Hijjah in Makkah (after Zuhr), 9th at Arafah (after zawal, before Zuhr), 10th (Yawm al-Nahr) at Mina (after Zuhr), and a fourth on a day of Tashreeq at Mina; the relied-upon Shafi'i texts place this fourth khutbah on the 12th — Yawm al-Nafr al-Awwal, the second day of Tashreeq: al-Nawawi in al-Majmu' ('والرابعة يوم النفر الأول، وهو اليوم الثاني من أيام التشريق'), al-Mawardi in al-Hawi al-Kabir, and Rawdat al-Talibin. (2) Hanafi = three khutbahs: 7th (Makkah), 9th (Arafah), 11th (Mina); the 10th is not counted. (3) Maliki = three khutbahs, same days as Hanafi (7th, 9th, 11th). (4) Hanbali = the mainstream view does not affirm a formal 7th-day khutbah (the Hanbali scholar al-Ajurri was an exception who did affirm it), and it counts the khutbahs with clear prophetic precedent: Arafah (9th, at Masjid Namirah), Yawm al-Nahr (10th, at Mina), and the second/middle day of Tashreeq (the 12th, Yawm al-Nafr) — three khutbahs in all, with no 7th-day khutbah (al-Mughni, Ibn Qudamah 3/394 and 3/488, the latter placing the farewell khutbah on'اليوم الثاني من أيام التشريق').

Notes

This item is descriptive/contextual: it documents the sermons the Hajj imam delivers, not a rite the pilgrim performs or omits. Key nuances: (a) The count is madhab-dependent — Shafi'i = 4, Hanafi/Maliki = 3 (7th, 9th, 11th), Hanbali does not affirm the 7th-day khutbah in its mainstream. (b) The fourth khutbah is on the 12th (Yawm al-Nafr al-Awwal, the second day of Tashreeq) per the relied-upon Shafi'i texts — al-Nawawi (al-Majmu'), al-Mawardi (al-Hawi al-Kabir) and Rawdat al-Talibin. (c) In current Grand-Mosque practice only the Arafah sermon is delivered as a full formal, widely broadcast/translated khutbah; the other three are generally not delivered today as comprehensive formal sermons. (d) The Arafah khutbah is the only one delivered before the prayer, distinguishing it from every other khutbah in Islam except this occasion.